Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Verses Spoken by Śukadeva Gosvāmī - Canto 07

This article presents a thematic survey of the Lord's impartiality, the mechanics of the three modes, the liberation of Śiśupāla, and the conclusion of Dakṣa's lineages spoken by Śukadeva Gosvāmī in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto 07. It organizes the quotes found in the Vaniquotes category Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Verses Spoken by Śukadeva Gosvāmī.

Śukadeva Gosvāmī is the liberated sage and son of Vyāsadeva. In these specific verses, he masterfully untangles the apparent contradictions in the Supreme Lord's behavior, proving that whether the Lord acts to protect the demigods or kill the demons, His actions are eternally transcendental, impartial, and spiritually auspicious.

Śukadeva Gosvāmī is the top speaker of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam with 4,872 verses at Vanisource. He speaks in all cantos except the 1st canto. He speaks in the 2nd (176 verses), 3rd (36 verses), 4th (5 verses), 5th (437 verses), 6th (371 verses), 7th (16 verses), 8th (538 verses), 9th (733 verses), 10th (2,278 verses), 11th (103 verses), and 12th canto (179 verses).

The Impartiality of the Supreme Lord

Śukadeva Gosvāmī begins by addressing King Parīkṣit's excellent inquiry regarding why the Supreme Lord appears to favor the demigods and show enmity toward the demons.

Beyond the Material Modes

Śukadeva Gosvāmī explains that Lord Viṣṇu is completely nirguṇa (transcendental to material qualities), meaning He has no material body subject to attachment or hatred.

"Śukadeva Gosvāmī introduces: The great sage Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: My dear King, you have put before me an excellent question. Discourses concerning the activities of the Lord, in which the glories of His devotees are also found, are extremely pleasing to devotees. Such wonderful topics always counteract the miseries of the materialistic way of life. Therefore great sages like Nārada always speak upon Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam because it gives one the facility to hear and chant about the wonderful activities of the Lord. Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto Śrīla Vyāsadeva and then begin describing topics concerning the activities of Lord Hari."
"The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu, is always transcendental to material qualities, and therefore He is called nirguṇa, or without qualities. Because He is unborn, He does not have a material body to be subjected to attachment and hatred. Although the Lord is always above material existence, through His spiritual potency He appeared and acted like an ordinary human being, accepting duties and obligations, apparently like a conditioned soul."
"My dear King Parīkṣit, the material qualities—sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa—all belong to the material world and do not even touch the Supreme Personality of Godhead. These three guṇas cannot act by increasing or decreasing simultaneously."
"When the quality of goodness is prominent, the sages and demigods flourish with the help of that quality, with which they are infused and surcharged by the Supreme Lord. Similarly, when the mode of passion is prominent the demons flourish, and when ignorance is prominent the Yakṣas and Rākṣasas flourish. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is present in everyone's heart, fostering the reactions of sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa."
"The all-pervading Personality of Godhead exists within the heart of every living being, and an expert thinker can perceive how He is present there to a large or small extent. Just as one can understand the supply of fire in wood, the water in a waterpot, or the sky within a pot, one can understand whether a living entity is a demon or a demigod by understanding that living entity's devotional performances. A thoughtful man can understand how much a person is favored by the Supreme Lord by seeing his actions."

The Time Factor and the Demigods

Śukadeva Gosvāmī elaborates on the mechanics of the material creation, emphasizing how the Supreme Lord utilizes the time factor to perfectly balance the universal forces.

The Action of the Supersoul

Śukadeva Gosvāmī clarifies that the Supreme Lord remains entirely impartial, employing the modes of material nature merely to facilitate the conditioned souls' desires within the limits of time.

"Śukadeva Gosvāmī clarifies: When the Supreme Personality of Godhead creates different types of bodies, offering a particular body to each living entity according to his character and fruitive actions, the Lord revives all the qualities of material nature—sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa. Then, as the Supersoul, He enters each body and influences the qualities of creation, maintenance and annihilation, using sattva-guṇa for maintenance, rajo-guṇa for creation and tamo-guṇa for annihilation."
"O great King, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the controller of the material and spiritual energies, who is certainly the creator of the entire cosmos, creates the time factor to allow the material energy and the living entity to act within the limits of time. Thus the Supreme Personality is never under the time factor nor under the material energy."
"O King, this time factor enhances the sattva-guṇa. Thus although the Supreme Lord is the controller, He favors the demigods, who are mostly situated in sattva-guṇa. Then the demons, who are influenced by tamo-guṇa, are annihilated. The Supreme Lord induces the time factor to act in different ways, but He is never partial. Rather, His activities are glorious, and therefore He is called Uruśravā."

The Rājasūya Sacrifice and Śiśupāla

To provide historical evidence of the Lord's absolute impartiality and grace, Śukadeva Gosvāmī recounts the miraculous event witnessed by Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira.

Merging into the Lord's Body

Śukadeva Gosvāmī describes Yudhiṣṭhira's absolute astonishment upon seeing Kṛṣṇa's sworn enemy, Śiśupāla, merge directly into the Lord's transcendental body.

"Śukadeva Gosvāmī recounts: Formerly, O King, when Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira was performing the Rājasūya sacrifice, the great sage Nārada, responding to his inquiry, recited historical facts showing how the Supreme Personality of Godhead is always impartial, even when killing demons. In this regard he gave a vivid example."
"O King, at the Rājasūya sacrifice, Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, the son of Mahārāja Pāṇḍu, personally saw Śiśupāla merge into the body of the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, struck with wonder, he inquired about the reason for this from the great sage Nārada, who was seated there. While he inquired, all the sages present also heard him ask his question."
"Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: After hearing the request of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, Nārada Muni, the most powerful spiritual master, who knew everything, was very pleased. Thus he replied in the presence of everyone taking part in the yajña."

The Conclusion of the Universal Lineages

Śukadeva Gosvāmī brings the immense cosmological and genealogical descriptions of the previous cantos to a close, seamlessly transitioning to Nārada Muni's epic narrations.

Yudhiṣṭhira's Wonder and Dakṣa's Daughters

Śukadeva Gosvāmī briefly interjects to note Yudhiṣṭhira's amazement at hearing about Prahlāda, and finally concludes the history of the cosmic population.

"Śukadeva Gosvāmī concludes: Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: After hearing about the activities and character of Prahlāda Mahārāja, which are adored and discussed among great personalities like Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva, Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja, the most respectful king among exalted personalities, again inquired from the great saint Nārada Muni in a mood of great pleasure."
"Nārada Muni, being worshiped by Kṛṣṇa and Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, bade them farewell and went away. Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja, having heard that Kṛṣṇa, his cousin, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, was struck with wonder."
"On all the planets within this universe, the varieties of living entities, moving and nonmoving, including the demigods, demons and human beings, were all generated from the daughters of Mahārāja Dakṣa. I have now described them and their different dynasties."

Dive Deeper into Śrīla Prabhupāda's Vani

This article is a thematic compilation of the teachings presented in the Vaniquotes category Bhagavatam Verses Spoken by Sukadeva Gosvami. We invite you to visit the link to read the complete collection of verses presented in alphabetical order.